Life is for Living
As the year 2021 comes to a close and we transition into another year full of life’s uncertainties, I find myself thinking about what matters most…
“How we spend our days is how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour and with that one, is what we are doing. ”
As the year 2021 comes to a close and we transition into another year full of life’s uncertainties, I find myself thinking about what matters most…
One of the hardest things (for me) of these past two years, is being unable to carry on with my goals, my plans, and dreams. Life has become smaller. I feel as if I’m a growing plant that’s trapped inside a glass jar… And I’m beginning to curl up on myself.
“The caged bird sings with a fearful trill, of things unknown, but longed for still, and his tune is heard on the distant hill, for the caged bird sings of freedom.”
It takes courage to go out into the world, to take risks, to fall down, to rise up again, to start over… to learn, to grow, to create… It’s what life is about.
Life is for living.
One needs to be free to create and to pursue one’s hopes and dreams, and a sense of purpose… To have fresh air, sunshine (and even a little rain!), to experience friendship, love, and connection with others…
Otherwise, our spirit cannot thrive. And just like plants and other animal beings, when we’re isolated from others and held back from truly living, we are not healthy and are unable to flourish.
This year my ‘Word for the Year’ was butterfly… My symbol for hope, strength, and endurance.
“Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all”
As I emerge from my 2021 cocoon… (a fragile time), it’s a new beginning, a time to awaken to a new day and to live with strength, courage, love, and freedom to be.
And that’s what matters most.
Dream Catcher, a Fairy Tale
A few years ago I lived in a little cottage in the woods. The cottage was surrounded by trees… Great, big grandfather trees. It was very dark in the winter evenings as I made my way home through the woods (with the help of the light shining from my cell phone!). Inside the cottage I felt safe though, nestled amongst the trees and listening to the rushing stream that ran past the cottage and the occasional owl or chattering raccoons…
A few years ago I lived in a little cottage in the woods. The cottage was surrounded by trees… Great, big grandfather trees. It was very dark in the winter evenings as I made my way home through the woods (with the help of the light shining from my cell phone!). Inside the cottage I felt safe though, nestled amongst the trees and listening to the rushing stream that ran past the cottage and the occasional owl or chattering raccoons.
It was during this time that I began my forest series of paintings. My painting Dream Catcher is of the forest near my cottage in West Vancouver. While painting Dream Catcher, a little story began to form… and so I wrote it down. It’s called Dream Catcher, a Fairy Tale.
You can read along in my blog here, or flip through the shortened version I created on Steller.
Dream Catcher is the first in a series of paintings that explore the forest as a place of fairy-tales, myth and magic. In stories and legends trees are symbols of wisdom, strength, endurance, protection, secret knowledge, life and fertility. In fairy tales the forest symbolises the unconscious and is a place of initiation. Entering the dark forest and the unknown, one confronts hidden aspects of the self in order to experience a re-birth and gain a new understanding and knowledge of life...
Read Dream Catcher a Fairy Tale on Steller
Read the full story on my blog
View the Dream Catcher Collection
Rose Gets Lucky
“Up here,” said the voice, and Rose glanced up towards the light and entrance to the cave. There she saw a little man no bigger than a few inches tall. He had a long, pointy nose that stuck out from his green cape and hood. He looked like part of the earth and roots so Rose would not have seen him but for his madly waving arm.
“Oh, hello,” said Rose, “Who are you?”
(Read last week's episode here)
“Up here,” said the voice, and Rose glanced up towards the light and entrance to the cave. There she saw a little man no bigger than a few inches tall. He had a long, pointy nose that stuck out from his green cape and hood. He looked like part of the earth and roots so Rose would not have seen him but for his madly waving arm.
“Oh, hello,” said Rose, “Who are you?”
“They call me Lucky,” said the little green man, with a twinkle in his eye. “Good luck comes to those who follow what I tell them. I’m here to help you, but you have to trust what I say.”
“Will you help me escape? I’m afraid the Old Woman will catch me and then I’m done for,” cried Rose fearfully as she watched the Old Woman snoring heavily in her bed.
“Listen carefully and do exactly as I say,” said Lucky. “In the cloth bag from your father is magic yarn that was given to your mother by the fairies. Every day when the Old Woman sleeps, you must weave it into a large web until it is seven feet high and five feet wide. Keep the web on your bed as a blanket, for the Old Woman is blind as a bat. When you sleep your dreams will weave themselves into the web.
“In seven days and seven nights I will be back,” said the little man, and with that he disappeared into the light of the day...
(Click here to continue reading)
A sneak peek...
The 'Little Book of Big Dreams' is almost Real!
Final edits are done and it's off to the printers...
The 'Little Book of Big Dreams' is almost Real!
Final edits are done and it's off to the printers...
For a peek at what's inside, you can click here and read the introduction.